This year will be the third year that we have visited the fantastic Elderflower Fields festival in the heart of Pippingford Park, Sussex.

The first year we went along for the day and fell in love with it so much that we couldn’t wait to book ready for the following year where we wanted to imerse ourselves in the whole experience by camping for the whole weekend.

For me this is the perfect starter festival as its on a slightly smaller scale than most which allows you to really kick back, relax and enjoy everything it has to offer.

Your weekend can be as chilled or as full as you want to make it and with all activities included in the ticket price the children won’t be bored for a minute.

The tickets are selling out fast for this years event and you only have until the 7th May to purchase yours.

If you fancy dipping your toe into the family festival scene and coming along as a day guest or if you want to try out the whole experience under canvas I can whole heartily recommend you start here!

Click on the ‘link’ to find out a little more and get your hands on the last remaining tickets!

A whole year is a pretty long time to wait in between festivals so thankfully Camp Bestival and Big Fish Little Fish have got together this year to create a tour that allows everyone to experience the fun of festival for a few hours before the summer and get ready for this years festival theme of ‘pop stars and rock stars’.

Last year we spend a lot of time next to the BFLF stage at Camp Bestival and the boys absolutely loved dancing around and jumping on and of the stage to all the great music they put on.

We were lucky enough to go along to the tour at Dreamland in Margate last week which is one of my favourite seaside attractions.

The cool, retro theme of Dreamland was the perfect setting for a children’s rave with lots of open space around the roller disco area that had been transformed into a super cool dance floor for the kids…well the adults too!

The dance floor was packed with people dancing playing with the tents and tunnels that were set out and eagerly awaiting the bubble machine and glitter cannons to go off!

For the really tiny ones there were quieter areas set up away from the hustle and bustle of it all.

It wouldn’t have that festival feel without face painting and even though my guys weren’t interest there were some very impressive faces walking around.

The boys spent a lot of time over at the craft station getting tattoos, making superheroes masks and creating masterpieces with the play dough.

In addition to all this fun families had the opportunity to grab some ‘pop stars and rock stars’ themed props and take a photo at the booth that gave them the chance to win one of three family tickets to Camp Bestival 17 which would make for the most fantastic prize!

The next event is in Hackney on 23rd April and if is set to be another cracker if you can get along to it.

If not please take a look at everything Camp Bestival has to offer. I can’t put into words what a mind blowing experience we had last year and this years is set to top it!

These words are just a few of many from Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits album that will always spark off nostalgia from my childhood.

Singing along in the car with my family on trips to the seaside will always spring to the forefront of my mind the minute I hear the first few notes of this song.

I don’t know what it is with music that immediately transports you to a time of situation the minute you hear it, but it’s a powerful thing and is the same in all of us be the memories good or bad.

Years after certain events can seem like yesterday through the power of music and it’s a huge reason why I love to share a variety of genres with my children to open their minds to the sheer wonder of music.

Last year when we attended Camp Bestival it was wonderful to be able to stand their and enjoy artists from my youth such as Bananarama and share with my little ones the memories their songs bought back to me; which were mainly playing their album over and over again on my stacking system in my bedroom whilst driving my Mum and Dad mad!

It was not only blasts from the past for me that evoked old memories that I enjoyed sharing it was also creating new ones with my children like my daughter bundling me to the front of the stage to see her favourite Jess Glynne.

The moment she starting singing ‘Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself’ my daughter’s face instantly lit up and it is a moment that will stay with me forever.

With Madness set to take to the stage this year who were another favourite of my Dad’s and Anne Marie a new fav of my daughter’s I’m sure their will be plenty more tunes that are going to be firmly etched in our memory banks for years to come!

If you fancy taking a trip to the best family festival around and enjoy an endless list of fantastic artists then take a look ‘here’.

We had our first taster of Elderflower Fields in 2015 when we visited for the day and had such a wonderful time we couldn’t wait to get back and enjoy a full weekend of fun.

Last year Elderflower Fields gave us our first experience of camping as a family…well we did cheat a little with a camper van! bur we loved every single moment of it!

The emphasis of this festival is to find new skills, take part in new activities and sample sumptuous food all in the beautiful surroundings of the great outdoors.

This year the festival will be coming to life from 26th-29th May in the stunning Pippingford Park, East Sussex.

It looks set to top lasts years with lots of familiar activities such as mountain boarding, arts camp, climbing walls, and pond dipping to name just a few and the exciting addition of a campfire cookout and the woodland tribe playground.

The list goes on with the activities that are on offer that are nearly all included in the extremely reasonable price of the weekend ticket.

If music is more your thing then the main stage is home to some fantastic performers that might not be well known artists but they are certainly not lacking in talent.

My tummy is always something I think our and the food here is second to none. The variety is huge and a good proportion of it is from local suppliers who’s passion for their products really shines through.

If you are looking for a relaxed family festival this year then this is the place to be.

I can promise a weekend they won’t break the bank but will leave you with some fabulous memories.

One of the many highlights from our trip to Camp Bestival last year was the Big Fish Little Fish stage. These very clever guys are the makers of the best…if not only family friendly, kids raves I have seen.

We were lucky enough to go to their first event in the Ministry Of Sound which albeit a little surreal was the perfect mix of dress up, dancing and fun and games for children and adults alike.

It would be the perfect taster for a insight into what to expect at Camp Bestival for anyone thinking of going or as a warm up for all the regulars.

With the Camp Bestival ‘Pop Stars And Rock Stars’ theme this year the tour would be a great chance to get all those outfits ready and give them a run on the dance floor to see if they can take the pace, there will even be an opportunity to have your photo taken in the Camp Bestival photo booth and enter a competition to win one of three family tickets to this years festival.

The tour is starting on the 5th of February and is coming to Farnham, Bristol, Southampton, Balham, Margate, Bath, Bournemouth and Hackney.

We will be going along to Margate and enjoying the rave at Dreamland which if you are a follower of mine you will know this is one of our favourite seaside venues and will be the perfect place to host a Big Fish Little Fish Event.

Take a look here to get your tickets booked and keep an eye out for all the run we are going to have in a few months time!

The excitement for this years line up at Camp Bestival came a few weeks ago now, and with the likes of All Saints, Louisa Johnson and Leftfield taking to the stage I was wondering who was going to top them as the Saturday night headliner this year.

Well it turns out we will be donning our baggy trousers and taking one step beyond as Madness come to Camp Bestival.

This Ska band were formed in the mid 70’s and were a huge hit with my Dad.
His passion for this lovable group was passed down to me and I have many happy memories of singing along to the likes of Our House and Baggy Trousers and of course trying to perform the infamous dance to One Step Beyond.

This is going to be the icing on the cake to a line up that is set to rock Camp Bestival like never before!

Last summer we were at Camp Bestival getting our grove on to hits from my teens from Bananarama, jumping around to Reggie and Bollie and in awe of a spectacular performance put on by Fatboy Slim.

This years line up for 2017 Pop Stars And Rock Stars is beginning to take shape and looks like it is set to top lasts years acts if that could be possible!

All Saints will be gracing the stage and this is another group that bring back many memories of my carefree youth.

The infamous Mark Ronson is set to headline on Friday night and is one not to be missed.

Mr Tumble will be making a very welcome return of the hoards of people that were there to see him last year are anything to go by!

Something that my daughter would absolutely love to see if the UK festivals exclusive – School Of Rock from the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s fabulous new musical.

This is just a taster of things to come and these acts mixed with the hundreds of activities to keep busy kids amused and delicious food around every corner then this years festival is definitely worth checking out.

Pop over ‘here’﻿ to get your tickets booked and get your summer off to a cracking start.